August 8, 2009
Wall Street jumped Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 touching new highs for 2009, after the U.S. government reported the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in July, offering a strong signal that the recession is easing.
The U.S. Labor Department posted that employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent, the first decline since April 2008. Economists had expected an unemployment rate of 9.6 percent last month.
Financials led the rally, as American Express and JPMorgan Chase climbed strongly. American International Group's upbeat earning also boosted the market. The insurer rescued by the U.S. government reported its first profit in seven quarters as investment losses narrowed. Its shares soared over 20 percent.
On other corporate news, D.R. Horton, the largest U.S. homebuilder by sales, gained 7.8 percent, as Goldman Sachs added the stock to its "conviction buy" list.
The Dow Jones rose 113.81, or 1.23 percent, to 9,370.07. Broader indexes also went higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 13.40, or 1.34 percent, to 1,010.48 and the Nasdaq climbed 27.09, or 1.37 percent, to 2,000.25.